HCM CITY — Fifteen teams of volunteers took part in a campaign in HCM City on August 27 to control dengue fever in Vĩnh Lộc B Commune in Bình Chánh District, a dengue hot spot.

They showed locals measures to prevent dengue, such as keeping their environment clean, spraying chemicals, killing mosquito larvae, and ensuring water does not collect in open containers.

According to the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre, so far this year Bình Chánh District has reported 979 cases of the disease, 411 more than in the same period last year.

Vĩnh Lộc B has accounted for 30 per cent of the number.

The campaign was organised by the city’s departments of Health and Natural Resources and Environment and the Youth Union.

It calls on organisations and individuals to carry out dengue prevention measures.

Inaugurating the campaign, the health department’s director, Nguyễn Tấn Bỉnh, said the campaign seeks to remove water containers, eliminate mosquitoes and their larvae, thus reducing the risk of dengue outbreaks.

He said local authorities should strengthen disease prevention and control measures.

Authorities at all levels should educate the public on how to prevent dengue fever and severely punish violators, he said.

The campaign will be taken across the city from now through Tết (the Lunar New Year) in February 2018.

According to the Preventive Medicine Centre, this year the city has seen more than 12,000 people hospitalised with dengue, 26 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

Elsewhere, on August 27, the District 12 People’s Committee and the Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor in HCM City organised an environmental clean-up activity dubbed Sunday for Environment.

It sought to raise public awareness of environmental protection, reduce pollution and encourage environment-friendly actions, according to Trần Kim Yến, chairwoman of the city’s labour federation.

Many people helped clean rubbish from streets and a 500m section of the Đất Sét Canal in Thạnh Lộc Ward that is badly polluted. — VNS